Carolyn Resnick Horsemanship: Liberty Horse Training

The practice of Leading From Behind™ causes the horse to gain a sense of belonging. Without tack, in a free open environment, we give a horse sanction to respond positively or negatively without consequences, which is so valuable to building a connection and trust with a horse.

For a horse to express his feelings without consequences or concern and to feel a sense of “who he is” is life- enhancing to a horse and the trick to winning him over. Exercising your instinct for horses as well as humans creates a sense of well being and enthusiasm for life as well as an optimistic attitude for working with others. Experiencing freedom of choice without consequences builds a healthy ego. A horse that has a healthy ego will naturally bond with a human.

A horse’s greatest instinct is for companionship and freedom. This is what we can give back to a horse working with the Waterhole Rituals™. It is essential for a horse to experience a freedom of choice in order for a horse to feel well adjusted.

From the practice of Leading from Behind™ we are returning a horse to his roots, his well being, and his understanding of life,… Read more

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Thanks for your big response. That should hold me for a while. Our weather is note worthy today. Hot and cool with thunderstorms. I will not be working horses much today.

Stina is in town and looking forward to our visit. She is now a certified clinician in my method.

Apollo is always becoming a more willing and loving dog. He loves to chase rabbits. As soon as he sees one, he is off and running and I can’t do anything about it. The other day when a rabbit ran by us I asked him to stay with me and he did. Right in the middle of his take off, he stopped! My complete focus has been on getting him to change with no luck at first. I could not lead him, let him free, or expect him to stay in place while training a horse, or keep him from jumping on people at our front door. Now he is doing everything I ask him to do.

The funny thing is that his obedience came out of his disobedience with no reprimand. I gave him no consequences but expressed to him in a big way what I… Read more

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Horses and humans are both social by nature, the difference is that horses are looking for well being through sharing the moment in companionship more than humans these days. It is a true magnetic draw that horses have for certain people, but it appears that the human is not wanting to connect with the horse as much as they want the horse to perform some act that they think is desirable. Maybe the horse does not want to be ridden or competed on.

An example of dysfunctional expectations would be if someone expected to train a rock to jump over a fence. Rocks can be trained, and I happen to have an exceptionally well trained rock. My secret to well trained rocks is that I don’t ask them to do something that is out of their ability. A rock can’t jump – but if I play my cards right, it can become a great paperweight!

Some people are so performance oriented that they measure the depth of a horse’s love for them by how well their horse performs. Few people get a horse just to enjoy its friendship. Often the person will only bond to a horse that they can… Read more

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It’s really touching that people have been responding so deeply on the subject of such a small issue regarding a horse being so unwilling to have a halter put on, or the horse being so freaked out about the need to rip away from a human, because of the distasteful feeling of being with a human.

I appreciate that many people are willing to take the long journey to build a relationship with a horse as Robin and Carry have done with Pony.

In the traditional programs of leaning how to fix problems with horses, the problem gets fixed from an overall system and does not take in to consideration of the needs of the individual horse and human. Recently I watched a Youtube of a horse, he has a similar problem as Pony, not as bad, but still a problem of putting a bridle. The method just used force and persistence at the time the horse was fighting to get away.

I am working on my book and I just finished my prologue and what I wrote really pertains to the subject of how to approach really big problems such as with Cary’s experience with her horse. It requires… Read more

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WORKING WITH THE WATERHOLE RITUALS: RULES AND GUIDELINES

As we go along, you will learn many ways in which your approach can affect the relationship you share with a horse. The rules of your behavior will change according to whether your horse approaches you, or you approach your horse.

The rules for working at liberty to bring about a true instinct in a horse to want to bond and stay with you are:

1. If the horse does not like the direction that he is given, he goes away, signaling you to stop your interactio
2. To reconnect, you must seek permission to enter the horse’s personal space through the Hello Ceremony.
3. If the horse objects by walking or running away from you, you must then go away, giving the horse time to naturally choose to reconnect.
4. When you direct a horse when you are in his personal space, it should always be a request, and if he doesn’t respond to it, you drop the subject and walk away.
5. If a horse walks up to you and steps into your personal space you can be more assertive
6. If you are too assertive, your horse will leave you and you

… Read more

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Today I am sharing another question from my Insider Circle program. This is a common beginning experience. The student writes:

Three times I have attempted the circle game with my horse. The first time he behaved liked he invented the game. I thought, “This is easy.”

The second day with the circle game when I moved him off his hay he would walk a few steps forward then circle to my side and stand there looking at me. I would have felt bad chasing him off after he faced up to me, so I rewarded him instead. But, I worried that he thought that is what I wanted.

Then today when we were going to play the circle game I attempted to move him off his hay, he walked off in the opposite direction of the hay piles and stood about fifty feet from me, looking at me.

Looked to me like he didn’t want to play. So, I fed him carrots instead. I fed him carrots when he came up to me, then I chased him away and fed him carrots for moving away.
So, what do you think?

So let me first explain what the circle game… Read more

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Hello. Work is progressing well with my book and we are aiming to have it finished by the beginning of December. I’m very excited about it. We have been taking some wonderful photos for it so it will be more like a coffee table book. I will also be discussing horse and herd behavior and how it relates to our lives and society, so I’m sure you’re going to love it.

OK, on to today’s blog post and I’d like to share with you a little more from the Insider Circle. So one of my students asked:

I am working with a horse who really isn’t a perfect candidate for this. She is complicated and I knew that from the get-go….she is a Marilynne. She is the only horse accessible to me and I wanted to learn what you had to teach so that I would grow and be able to work with her as she heals. We are in the beginning stages of sharing territory and saying hello. She is learning to love both of these rituals.

I am still pondering how to help her overcome her fear of the reed. The look in her eyes when she sees

… Read more

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